Anarchy High

By Daryl Montgomery and Jack Kemp

The New York Post reports that ACORN is administering three of New York City's publicly-funded schools, "including two (high) schools in Brooklyn bearing the group's name: ACORN Community HS and the ACORN HS for Social Justice."

Despite claims by school officials that the curriculum is standard educational fare, the Post found:

"* On the home page of Bushwick Community HS, you'll find a large illustration of Che Guevara wearing a graduation cap.

* Last year, the principal of Vanguard HS in Manhattan hosted a "radical math" conference at his school. The event, according to the program, featured a presentation by a teacher at Performing Arts & Technology HS about "how to use the history of the Black Panther Party to fuel an algebraic curriculum."

As the article points out, the public schools are being radicalized and the students are taught grievances first with education as an afterthought. This shows in student scores on standardized tests. The Post further notes that:

"According to College Board data from this summer, the average SAT score for New York state students under the lowest family-income bracket was 1276. Black students in the state averaged 1257. The schools listed in this column (except Bushwick Community HS, for which I could not find data) posted average scores between 983 and 1141."

The City and its former-Democrat Mayor Bloomberg are deluding themselves as to what they are tolerating and advancing as a curriculum. Teaching resentment is only a good preparation for a life of crime or bomb making.

The City of New York needs to come up with a better solution that helps its students gain mastery of life skills. And renaming the two ACORN "branded" schools Bill Ayers High School and Diana Oughton High School would not make the problem go away.